Rescue Resto

We tune up and dress up a smog-era small-block

- Tommy Lee Byrd

Sometimes you just feel sorry for an old car. At that point you have two choices: you can put it out of its misery or you can rescue it. The subject of this tech article is a 1974 Chevy Nova four-door, a car that someone might use as a parts car. It is certainly not a desirable car to restore, but when you find a 43-year-old car that doesn’t have a single spot of rust on the body it’s hard to toss it to the side. The car is downright ugly and it didn’t run (or stop) when we dragged it home. We decided to give the 145-horsepower small-block a quick tune-up.

Can you believe that a 350ci small-block could be smothered down to 145 horsepower? Neither can we and we’re hoping to give this mill a few more horsepower by eliminating the original emissions system, which included a smog pump, restrictive exhaust manifolds, and an EGR valve. We will replace the manifolds with Patriot headers and run a dual exhaust setup. To get the car running efficiently we yanked the original points distributor in favor of a PerTronix Flame-Thrower Stock-Look distributor, a Flame-Thrower coil, and PerTronix 8mm spark plug wires. We also gave it a new set of spark plugs, a quick rebuild on the Rochester two-barrel carburetor, and some fresh fluids.

As a byproduct of removing the emissions equipment our engine bay started looking better and better. After some serious degreasing and cleaning and a fresh coat of Chevrolet Orange paint the old small-block cleaned up nicely. We finished it off with a set of Holley’s new finned-aluminum valve covers and matching air cleaner. The 350 is much happier with its new ignition and exhaust, and we’re glad to have saved this old four-door from the crusher. Our rescue resto is complete, and now it’s time to hit the road and spread the joy that only a green-ongreen 1974 Nova four-door with 145 horsepower can provide.